I just lost a post it took me almost an hour to write! :mad:

Barb you and your hubby are in my thoughts and prayers,:crossed: I am just thrilled to hear you have reason to have good hope for a baby!!

We are under a winter storm warning here tonite and into tomorrow. No big deal unless you have to drive out in the country I don't think. although I am ready for Spring.

I lost 9# 2 oz. at my Friday Weigh In...That just shows I journaled and was very OP all last week, my usually pattern is lose good gain a bit back etc...yo yo for sure...although I am about 20 pounds to the good over all it should have been much better by now.

I am still sitting in my house most days except for watching grandkids I don't have much of a life....getting divorced after 38 years was hard enough but necessary, I am glad I left. :cp: But after being in such a controlled environment for so many years my self confidence is just so low...It is up to only me to decide what kind of a future I am going to have. I tell you, I don't feel like a 300 pound old lady on the inside! :crazy: weird how that works....I did turn in a application for a part time job at a hospital as a registrar..I hope I get it...If not I will keep on trying.

Part of my on and off depression is that I feel like such a slug and so bored and although I spend a lot of time writing I don't know what to do with it....Also it is kind of like someone seeing you without your clothes especially if I write about anything more serious...most of my writing is kids stories.....ie: Mary, Harry, & Terri, the peanut people ...the only people that see them are peple who eat certain foods. lol

Thin: I was also invited to a Red Hat luncheon, but I declined because it was on the other side of town and I am to chicken to drive on the W side. But I hope I can go another time. I like the fact that the rule is there are no rules!

To all the others I am wishing each and every one of you an OP week with at least one or two things to put in your gratitude journal each day!

Love to all....

Hey guys....
 

I don't really know how to say this without it sounding bad....and even thought I could type paragraph after paragraph, I probably will never get what I really want to say across, but I'll try to say it in the best way I know how.

I love you guys and I ALWAYS will, but I'm leaving the site. Probably not forever....but for now. At first, I thought I would just email or PM some of you and let you know because I figured to some it really wouldn't matter anyways, so why make a big post on the board just to upset everybody? :?: But in the end..... I decided it would be best just to come here and be totally open and honest. For those of you that have known me for quite awhile, you know that I am an honest person. I never ever mean to hurt feelings, but sometimes it's hard to understand what a person is truly feeling without hearing the inflection in their voice. Sometimes the point can't come across in just the typed word....but I'll do my best.

After I received the hateful email and I went looking for another support board, I truly missed you guys....but I moved on. I don't spend near as much time as I used to on the internet because I just don't have time. Everytime I come here and don't individually respond or type a big long message, I feel as though I have nothing to contribute, so I usually end up not coming here at all. Yes, I know I don't have to individually reply to everyone. Yes, I know I don't have to type a big long post. But times change and so do people. Right now, the support board that I'm going to is what I need in my life. NO ONE here has done anything wrong and it's not a matter of dropping my old friends for my new ones...it's just a matter of what I feel I can keep up with and I can't keep up with both. I am truly involved with my new board. I am a moderator and am a team leader for a Winter Challenge right now and the board takes a lot of my time and when I come over here, I just feel as though I'm repeating myself and many times have even "copied" a few of my posts from there to paste here.....just to have a post for you guys and you deserve better than that.

So rather than try to juggle both, I'm going to leave here. I may hop in and say hello from time to time, but I don't want you guys looking for me or wondering where I am. I also did not want to just disappear on you, having you wonder where the heck I am. This way....by typing this post, you will know. Before I go though......I do have a few more things to say:

Each one of you, in one way or another has truly touched my life and I will always hold a really special place for each one of you in my heart. It is no secret that I have known some of the people here longer than others and I do have a few things to say just to them. Please, if you are not included in the below, it is not that I don't care for you........I am only leaving a person message for the ones I feel led to.

2cute: YOU, my friend.... are my heart and I will never be far away from you. I have sat on your lap many times and you have rocked my cares away. I have read your posts and had tears rolling down my cheeks, sometimes from laughing so hard and sometimes because you touched me in the core of my soul. Please, do not be mad at me or get your feelings hurt. You have my email and phone # and I will be in touch. I love you.

Thin: Oh my wise and lovely friend......I hope you will not exclude me when you are sending out the cards. How precious it is to me to open the mailbox and see that lovely handwriting from my friend, "Thin." I have every single card you have ever sent me and I look at them often. I have always trusted you to tell me the truth and your honest, love, inspiration and humor is something that I will miss. Please, continue to email me as I will you and know you are never out of my heart.

Kat: My beautiful lovely friend..... everytime I read one of your posts, I see your face from the pictures of you, Barb and Michelle and hear your voice from our conversations. You are such a precious friend. If I ever have truly one regret in life, it will be that I missed meeting you when I was in your area. If I am ever there again, I will not make that mistake. You have a heart of gold and I truly treasure your friendship. I always hope to keep in touch with you.

Michelle: You are such a special friend. I love all the emails you send me and I know somehow, that we will not lose touch with one another. We have a lot in common and maybe one of these days we can get John to leave BLowes and move to Home Depot, you think? You are truly an inspiration to me knowing how you work, take care of Andrew and go to school. There have been times I have been so tired and then I think of you and all you do, and I go another mile. Take care my friend and I'm sure we'll speak soon.

Sandy: My soul sister. Sometimes I feel we are twins separated at birth. We have oh so much in common and I just know if we lived closer we would be inseparable. I can't tell you the times you have said something and it mirrored my thoughts and feelings. Sometimes when I've looked at your picture in your eyes, I've seen myself staring back. I hope you know what a special place you hold in my heart. Please email me and we can keep in touch.

I know there are more that I should probably post to, but at this time, I have posted to all those I felt led to. Once again, just because I didn't post individually to you doesn't mean I don't care about you.

Mary, Lucky, Terri, Barb, Barbg, Joanne, Judy, Pam, Jen, Syn, Steph, Duckie, Amanda, Tracy, Natalie, Andria.....and whoever else I might have missed, I wish you NOTHING but the best in your weight loss journey and I hope and pray you succeed in all you do. I pray that God will bless each and every one of you.

I am very much OP.... dh and I are doing it together and I feel stronger, more in control and happier than I ever have in my life and I'm sure my friends here do have a part in that. Because of you and all the support and friendship you have offered through the years, it has shaped the person I have become and I will never forget that.

I will be by from time to time to check on you and make sure you're not getting into too much trouble without me here.....and maybe one day, I'll post a picture and you won't even recognize me!

Take care and I love you all.

PATRIOTS ROCK!!!

Patriots win the superbowl twice in 3 years!!

Tina- sorry to hear that you are leaving us, but you need to do what you feel is best for you. I wish you happiness and success and I hope you do pop in from time to time and say hi. We'll miss you.
Steph

DARN !!!! I wrote a longggg post (and a darn good one I might add) and LOST IT !!!!

I wish I had time to go back and retype it... but I am too aggrevated to do that. Grrr

Just want to tell Tina.....
I want what is best for YOU sweetie. I am not mad nor hurt. ((HUGS))
I knew long ago you were leaving us. You have not been yourself here for a longggg time. I came to accept it long ago. I will miss you terribly .... but sometimes we need something NEW to stir things up. I wish you the BEST and KNOW you will be successful. I am happy your husband is joining in on your journey. Keep us informed of how everything is going... and how much weight you have lost. :D I will miss you ... but then I have been missing you for quite some time. {{HUGS}}

I LOVE the rest of you too... but like I said.. I am kind of aggrevated with losing that longggggg post I wrote and just plain don't feel like trying again now.

Tina...Although I will miss you terribly, I respect your decision to move on and admire you for sharing your reasons with us. Your honesty has always been one of your most endearing qualities!
Our board will shine a little less brightly with you gone.

Take care, and all the best to you and Ron on your weight loss journey!

Tina: I will miss you (and Tony) please keep in touch

I am down 2 lbs.

Well ladies if I ever say I am going to have the baby grandbaby spend the night with me.... SLAP SOME SENSE INTO ME !!!!! :crazy: She is TOO MUCH !!! She kept me up until about 4:30am and even threw up once on me. :eek: WHAT A NIGHT !!!!! :faint:
I FINALLY got her asleep about 4:30 and at 7am the other woke up and came woke up me and the baby.
It was a longgggggggg night... and I think it will be a longggggger day. :dizzy: LOL

Terri.... while laying in bed I remembered how in the long post I lost how I told you how much we did miss you.!!!! {{{ HUGS }}} Some times it is just hard to keep up with those who have posted. :dizzy:
I also remembered that I wanted to tell you I am a "fun" person too.
BUT... I miss out on a LOT of fun being sooooo obese.
I would / could / should be a WILD WOMAN !!!! :lol:

Jen.... STEP AWAY FROM THE SCALE !!! :drill: You are right... it is counterproductive !!! Just keep telling yourself you are doing this bike riding because you love how NOW you are able to do it.
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS NOT THE POUNDS.

Andira... your post was full of good stuff. But the main thing I agree with is...Steph... I wish I could help you downsize a pic but I am clueless. I saw you posted your bio too. I can't wait until I go read it. And I would like to suggest you pick some smaller goals along your way to your 71lbs loss goal. Maybe reaching each 10lbs such as making it into the 50's then 40's then 30's, etc , etc. Of course starting wherever you are... those were just examples. ;)

Baarbg... Good luck on your testing today. :crossed: Remind me again why they have changed their minds about you qualifing now??? I know before they said you were too heavy for a weight loss study which is sooo stupid... but why will they let you do it now??

Syn... you wrote so much I wanted to comment on. First CONGRATULATIONS on your 9lb loss. WAY TO GO !!! Even though you may have yo yoed yourself there... that is still 20lbs gone. :D
I want to wish you luck on your job search. I need to be more productive myself and search out a part time job too. It is hard when I can't walk when I first stand up... but I too think it helps with depression.
You also said you are doing a lot of writing ... but don't know what to do with it.
Find a friend and send it to them. Part of a 12step program is sharing your inner most being with another human being. I know it can be hard to do... but after a while it is very theraputic... and you even look forward to it. LOL
And for your story telling writing... have you tried to get them published??? I would love to read them.
Mary.. congrats on your 2 lbs ....:bravo: Sounds like you have a busy few days ahead of you. I hope you can take a lap top and keep in touch.

Michelle, Kat, and Michelle... hope you each enjoyed your own tv choices. We had quite a variety going on in here last night. LOL

Okay... I have got to get back to the grandbabies. I plunked them down in front of the tv to give me some time here to post. I don't want to push my luck. LOL
Speaking of luck... where are you LUCKY ??? !!!

Well today has been a great day so far. I did WATP 1 mile and I plan on going to my mom's to use the treadmill. I am aiming for 20 min, but will be happy with 10-15 if I can't make it to 20. Breakfast was 1/2 a banana, 1 mini bagel w/ small amt of light strawberry cream cheese, and 1 container of light and fit carb control vanilla yogurt. I also bought the flavored water from Walmart, and I have to agree with you all, the white grape is awesome. 2cute- thanks for your concern. I guess I forgot to mention my mini goals. What I meant by the 71 lbs was that it was my first large longterm goal. My first mini goal is 29 lbs which is about 10% of my weight. Thanks for pointing that out. Mary- congrats on the 2 lbs. It seems like you are back on track. Well I think that's everyone so far. Anyone else know how to downsize a pic? Any help is much appreciated. Talk to you all later.
Steph

congrats syn and mary on the losses. you ladies are doing wonderful. i hope that everyone had a great weekend. i am happy to say i was op all weekend food and exercise wise. dh started going to the gym with me friday night and i think that will definately keep me going. hope everyone's monday is going great. more later.

Just got back from the screening for the research study. Don't know much, they did a through examanation, ekg, and lots of labs test. It they all come back okay I will meet with the dietatition on the 18th and be given the first months supply of the drug. I was originally told that it would be shots, but today I found out it will be pills that I take 30 minutes before each meal. Shots would have been easier. I'd have remembered to take them, where I have a problem remembering to take pills, especially as I don't know when it's 30 minutes before I'm going to eat!. Oh well. I did find out that there are about 700 people taking part in the study around the country (2Cute you might check with your area hospital's diabetes center) but there will only be 15 accepted into the study from our hospital.

Nothing much else to say, except hang in there everyone, and congrats on the weight loss already this year. I didn't get to go to the health club because of the time of the appointment, but I set the next one to be AFTER exercise!

Hey ladies:

I have 2 minutes before my meeting, so this will be quick.

Weigh in was great. Down 4.5 pounds. I am so happy. I am now on Day 17!

Tina: Sorry to hear that you are leaving. You will be missed.

Hugs to all.

Susie

[COLOR=MediumTurquoise][B]Hello ladies, sorry to be away over the weekend, but it has been a very emotional one here with the wake and funeral and all. It went as well as a funeral can go, it was very nice and so many people. There must have been at least 200, the Funeral home was at standing room only capasity once all the people were there. Because there is no snow on the ground here they were able to dig the hole and do a graveside service also, that was cold, but knowing that he is with the Lord now and so much better made it okay and worth standing there to give him our final fairwells and to deliver him to god.

Tina: I am sorry you are leaving, and I will truely miss you, you know I will. But I totally respect your honesty and your needing to move on to different things at this point in your life. I wish you and Ron well in your journey together. LOVE YA!!!!

Mary: I was looking at those Morningstar Pizza burgers when I went shopping on Friday. I had a $1.50 off coupon if you bought 2 Morningstar products but I was not sure how they were. Now I will give them a try, thanks.

Kat: I had to laugh when you typed in that there was a marathon on "Queer Eye for the Straigt Guy" I love that show also. Congrats on your loss also.

Syn: 9# 2 oz down...you go girl.....

Suzie: Congrats on your loss also.

I wish I had more time, but work calls. I will pop in later gators.

but not before I do a reply to

2cute: Sorry I missed you this weekend. But I did think of you!!

Love all,
Sandy

susie congrats on the loss. you go to the girl.